Hong Kong Busts Man Accused in Murder of 2 Nephews in LA

Extradition could be tricky
By Luke Roney,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 25, 2016 7:11 AM CST
Hong Kong Busts Man Accused in Murder of 2 Nephews in LA
Deyun Shi   (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department via AP)

Police in Hong Kong on Sunday arrested a Chinese national suspected of killing his two teenage nephews at their Southern California home on Friday and then fleeing to Beijing. US authorities also believe Deyun Shi, 44, attempted to kill his wife, Reuters reports. Police say Shi learned Thursday that his wife planned to divorce him, the Los Angeles Times reports. That night, Shi returned to the family home in La Cañada Flintridge, which he had moved out of, and attacked his wife with a woodcutting tool. He left after his son, 15, stepped in. Police think he later drove to the Arcadia home where his nephews lived, per the Times. The boys had been left sleeping while their parents visited Shi's wife at the hospital. Later, the mother discovered one of the boys bleeding and unresponsive. Both boys suffered blunt-force trauma and were pronounced dead at the scene.

While Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the US, the Times reports, the proceedings could be complicated if Shi will face the death penalty, which Hong Kong does not have. "Any possibility of execution will be a reason for Hong Kong not to surrender," one expert tells the Times. A US lawyer providing legal assistance to Shi says he's "interested in looking into" using that to delay or stop extradition. Before moving to the US about a year ago, Shi, who appears to have run an importing business here, had several businesses in Shenzhen, China, the Times reports, citing Chinese media reports that say Shi was a "central figure" in at least four bribery cases that ended with three officials going to prison. It is unclear, the Times reports, if Chinese authorities are interested in having Shi sent back to them. (More murder stories.)

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